Designer Christian Cowan, who has become a star among those with a flare
for club kid and Lady Gaga inspired styles, continued his mission of
bringing glitz and glamour back to the runway for New York Style Week
this season. In an era of maximalism, Cowan has capitalized on all that
glitters and his ability to use fashion to uplift people's spirits.

Cowan's inspiration this season was a quote from Amy Winehouse. "She once
had this quote where she said 'When I sing, I want people to forget about
all their problem for three and a half minutes', and it was so simple, but
I thought it was so nice," Cowan says. "I thought to myself, I really
wanted to do that with a collection." Cowan stuck to his brand DNA by doing
things like playing with textures, and using bright colors to create what
he described as "escapism from the rest of the world."

In these turbulent times we are living in, Cowan wants to use his designs
to empower women and stop objectifying them. In his design approach, he
always wants to make women feel amazing for them, rather than how they look
for everyone else. While Cowan's designs are known to be sexy and
revealing, he takes a careful approach to dance the line of women's
empowerment, making things sexy and avoiding objectification.

"It's always a balancing act," Cowan says. "For example if I use a material
that's slightly transparent, it won't be a low-cut thing, it'll have a
super high neckline. Whenever I'm having fittings for my runway shows, I
always ask my models if they feel good, and if not, I change them
immediately. People need to feel good so the clothes look good."

Cowan is also very adept at creating original pieces inspired by other
visuals. One of the most striking accessories in his collection was a pair
of gloves that were rolexes all the way up the arm that were inspired by a
photo of a man wearing numerous rings on his fingers. He believes the most
fabulous things are those that are easily recognizable but reinterpreted.

As for the customer for his collection, "She's definitely not someone who
wants to fade away and not be noticed," he says. "She's someone who wants
to be noticed, feel powerful, and have a lot of fun with fashion. It's
really about enjoying yourself."

To that end, the runway show opened with a creme fringed sweater dress with
fringed knee high boots, that set the tone for the party-like show to come.
The color palette for the collection included black, white, yellow, green,
red, orange and silver for a burst of color. Black and white pieces were
done in a mod style checkerboard pattern, in Cowan's true British fashion.
The grand finale look of a floor length sequin evening wear gown
accessorized with a miniature neon dress silhouette attached to the front
was attention getting, statement making and let us know that fashion is
still fun.

This season, Cowan also unveiled a new shoe collaboration with Stuart
Weitzman that featured fringe, glitter and sequins. Party-favor inspired
accessories made in collaboration with Chrishabana were also featured.